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The Ministerial Council is the central decision-making and governing body of the OSCE. The meeting, held annually, provides the Foreign Ministers of the 57 OSCE participating States an opportunity to review and assess the Organization’s activities and strengthen the dialogue on security issues in the OSCE area.

Although no Final Declaration was agreed at the meeting in Vienna, a number of results were achieved. Chairperson-in-Office, Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner, stressed the importance of the re-admission of Yugoslavia to the OSCE.

She noted the efforts of the Minsk Group Co-Chairmen and her Personal Representative to lessen tensions in the region of the Nagorno-Karagakh conflict. She also expressed satisfaction with the expansion of OSCE relations and activities in Central Asia, one of the Austrian Chairmanship's priorities.

She acknowledged there was a "divergence of views", particularly regarding the situations in Georgian, Moldova and the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation.

Ministers adopted the Vienna Declaration on the OSCE's activities in South-Eastern Europe, recognizing the role of the Stability Pact and noting several positive changes in the region.